MBB: NESCAC

amh63 · March 04, 2011, 07:09:02 PM

Amherst 79-Skidmore 39 Even as Amherst empties the bench in the last 5 plus minutes. Skidmore is too small and not as quick as Amherst!.....at least in this encounter. Amherst was behind 7-2 before going on a 11 point run, led by Toomey. Both teams started slowy, adjusting to the gym......missing from outside. Toomey was the first to adjust to the baskets and hit two threes and the blowout began. Amherst outscored Skidmore 41 to 19 in the 2nd half! The announcers and the people in the stands gradually realize how deep and good the Amherst team is.......as the announcers kept citing near the end that Amherst's only loses were to two no. 1 tournament seeds.

nescac1 · March 04, 2011, 07:11:41 PM

Watched the second half of the Becker game. Crazy game. Becker was down by 12 deep into the half, then went on a massive run and ended up winning by 7. Scranton totally fell apart and lost composure.

Becker is very athletic and has three very talented offensive players. They crash the offensive boards and use their length inside effectively, they don't run much of an offense, but score a lot off turnovers, dumping it inside, and second chance points. Pressing all over the court and create a lot of havoc. Their athleticism and style of play could definitely cause problems for Williams (presuming Williams wins tonight) especially without the ball-handling of Robertson. Wang and Rooke-Ley will have to play smart. That being said, Becker gave up a TON of open threes (most of which Scranton buried in building up their lead) due to their aggressive, gambling style and general lack of discipline. IF you can break their press and stay patient and move the ball on offense, you'll get plenty of open looks, as they take a LOT of gambles defensively. Scranton had zero inside game so no way to tell how Becker will fare guarding the Eph big guys. A fun team to watch, with a fun, boisterous crowd behind them (only 1.5 hours from Williams). Becker has beaten some good teams this year in RIC, WPI, Bridgewater State, and now Scranton, and they probably are right around where they were ranked all year ... a top 20-30 team.

Figured Amherst would win fairly easily, but that score is scary. Toomey seems to be back to his old self. Of course RIC had a blow out win as well. Looking more and more like Amherst and RIC will get to play that game they cancelled after all ... that would be a great match-up as Amherst is bigger and better, but RIC has plenty of perimeter quickness, which traditionally bedevils the Jeffs.

nescac1 · March 04, 2011, 08:18:16 PM

A first half to forget for Williams ... up only three, but it could be worse ... they were down 14 (!) early, just playing terribly, tons of turnovers, just looked totally out of synch. Husson was triple teaming Troy and the Ephs could not get open looks despite that.

Fortunately they started playing better at the end. Refs calling it incredibly tight, with tons of fouls on Husson (who is very aggressive on D) and THREE fouls on Whittington, two of which were iffy touch fouls, but hard to complain as the Ephs have gotten the benefit of most calls. John Jones has been simply awesome for Husson, 18 points, 8 boards, and most of his shots were NOT easy, may need to double him. Robertson played a few minutes but didn't really look like himself. Emerson and Rooke-Ley played very well for Williams, Wang played OK, that's about it. Williams can play much, much better than this ... if they have any stretches like they did in the first ten minutes of the game deeper into the tourney, they will be in big, big trouble. Heck, they could be in trouble in this game, but they did seem to right the ship late in the half, and hopefully that will continue.

RMC I see barely avoids a huge upset -- that would have been a BIG break for Midd.

nescac1 · March 04, 2011, 09:04:12 PM

wow. Ephs up one, three minutes to play. Josh Jones, with 29 points, on a hurt ankle, many of them off very, very difficult contested jumpers, the best individual performance I've seen vs. Williams this year, easily. Anyone's game right now. Ephs were up 13 but fell apart a bit, not really executing on offense, and Husson is scrappy, hitting LOTS of really tough shots.

nescac1 · March 04, 2011, 09:11:06 PM

Unreal. Tie game, 4 seconds left, Husson ball. Wow.

nescac1 · March 04, 2011, 09:13:51 PM

Phew, Husson barely misses, headed to OT. Klemm saved the Ephs, for now, which a huge three point play.

I rarely, rarely question Maker, but I don't understand why the Ephs haven't doubled Jones. The guy just can not miss ... make someone else beat you. Also, Whittington is just not getting nearly enough touches. Hopefully that changes in OT.

eph partisan · March 04, 2011, 09:17:22 PM

Living and dying with Wang... 7 tos, but our only source of offense...

Mr. Ypsi · March 04, 2011, 09:18:25 PM

WOW! If Williams doesn't pull this out, combined with the Williams women getting upset by Muhlenberg, I sure hope Williamstown has good people working the suicide hotlines!

Williams would also be killing my Fantasy team, since I took Whittington with the very first pick!

eph partisan · March 04, 2011, 09:18:48 PM

Scratch that... Klemm too

eph partisan · March 04, 2011, 09:21:22 PM

Let's hope you're ok Mr. Ypsi... I think you will be.

Mr. Ypsi · March 04, 2011, 09:33:50 PM

Quote from: eph partisan on March 04, 2011, 09:21:22 PM
Let's hope you're ok Mr. Ypsi... I think you will be.

Wang was the second overall pick - we think a lot of Williams' chances!

BTW, you'd also be killing my bracket, since I have Williams in the title game (though losing to UWSP).

LustyLarryintheToilet · March 04, 2011, 09:34:40 PM

Amazing game, thats what basketball is all about. Great atmosphere, gritty til the end. What do the Williams fans think of the decision at the end not to foul, especially on the inbounds. Husson got off two really good looks to tie under the 6 second mark?

nescac1 · March 04, 2011, 09:37:51 PM

Williams hangs on and wins by 3, as a Josh Jones three BARELY rims out. Hopefully Williams has some energy left for Becker tomorrow, and that they play more characteristic Eph hoops. But credit to Husson -- they played really well, and hit a lot of tough shots, and swarmed Whittington whenever he touched the ball, giving him almost no one-on-one opportunities.

For Williams, I have to say Klemm was the MVP -- 12 points, 4 boards, 4 assists, including a huge three point play down the stretch and a huge three in OT. Wang was a lot of good -- 30 points, and a fair amount of bad too -- 7 TO's, only 4-12 from three. The frosh were huge, as Epley and Rooke Ley combined for 20 points and 8 boards in a pressure situation. Robertson gutted things out and hit a big three, but definitely wasn't his usual self.

For Williams to win tomorrow, they need to find a way to either get Troy a LOT more touches, or make the defense pay for collapsing on him more than they did today. But glad they gutted this one out against a Husson team who probably played as well as they possible could, in particular Josh Jones, who was simply the man out there.

eph partisan · March 04, 2011, 10:04:19 PM

Quote from: Mr. Ypsi on March 04, 2011, 09:33:50 PM
Quote from: eph partisan on March 04, 2011, 09:21:22 PM
Let's hope you're ok Mr. Ypsi... I think you will be.

Wang was the second overall pick - we think a lot of Williams' chances!

BTW, you'd also be killing my bracket, since I have Williams in the title game (though losing to UWSP).

Glad that you still have Troy and your bracket is intact!

In addition to Troy, I feel as though Klemm should get more touches. He's getting cut out of the offense too much, and he can shoot the freakin' ball.

Wang took too many shots early in the shot clock, and he had a lot of trouble - as he did against Midd - getting in the lane but finding he had nowhere to go. He is very good - without a doubt, an All-American - but I think he'd be better if he tried to do just a little less and let the game come to him a little more. I want to see more of the Wang-Whittington pick and roll - we only ran it a few times, but that thing is deadly.

Like nescac1, this is one of the few times I would question some of Coach's decisions. Jones shouldn't have been allowed to touch the ball. Granted, the other Husson players hit some big shots as well. HUGE amount of credit to them. Maybe they saw Walzy's line and put it up in the locker room for the day...

I am hoping that this serves as the wake up call for the Ephs that I thought the loss to Midd would. Becker is gonna be a good one.

toad22 · March 05, 2011, 12:13:24 AM

The Williams-Husson game was a fun game to watch. The Ephs failed, once again, to be as intense and focused at the beginning as their opponents were. In addition, they didn't maintain their focus after they got their 13 point lead. Husson deserved to win that one, though I am very glad they didn't.